Galle – Tillakaratne Dilshan's fluent half-century guided Sri Lanka to 94/1 wicket at lunch on the opening day of the first Test against Pakistan on Friday.
The opener took 49 balls to race to his half-century with the help of five fours and one six against a wayward Pakistan bowling attack after Sri Lanka had won the toss and decided to bat first on a good batting track.
The right-hander was batting on 56 at lunch break with Kumar Sangakkara on 12.
With Pakistan new ball bowlers Umar Gul and Junaid Khan failing to exploit the early life on the pitch, Sri Lanka got off to a strong start with Dilshan and Tharanga Paranavitana (24) putting together a 63-run opening partnership before off-spinner Saeed Ajmal broke the stand in his first over.
Dropped by Azhar Ali at silly point, Paranavitana celebrating by hitting the next Ajmal delivery for a boundary before charging out only to miss the flight and turn and depart stumped.
Stand-in captain Mohammad Hafeez introduced spin as early as in the eighth over by bringing himself on but could not break he opening partnership until Ajmal was pressed into service in the 16th over. – Reuters